Step-Mi
By: Luca Notarfrancesco, Davide Parenti, Enrico Pietra, Anna Rigillo
Step-Mi is a project developed during the Industrial Design 2 Studio in Politecnico di Milano. The project was about designing products for the underground.
As an aim we decided to rethink the idea of the stairlifts creating a product which can give independence to all those disabled who can take care of themselves.
The outcome is an assistant during your daily
commuting through the underground stations.
The product attaches to your wheelchair in a few seconds and allows you to move in the station and climb the stairs thanks to the rubber truck under it.
The connection to the wheelchair is possible thanks to the four arms which rotate in a concentric way and grab the wheels of the chair.
From that moment the balance of the chair is kept by the accelerometer and the gyroscopes in the carter of the “in wheel engine”. These sensors monitor and just the centre of gravity even during the stairs climbing.
The motor inside the wheel activates through the sensors which monitor the pressure of the hands on the wheels, making move the whole system and so the wheelchair.
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Two sets of Step-Mi are positioned in each terminal which can be activated through a health insurance card directly from the user without the need of an operator.
All the user has to do then is to position him and his wheelchair in the middle of the terminal and wait for the Step-Mi to be positioned properly.
Coming back he will just have to activate again the terminal and to stay ready again in the same position, waiting for the mechanic arms to take back the tracks.
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STATION EVIRONMENT
